Latvijos švietimo įstaigų simboliniai pavadinimai

V. LaugaLe. Symbolic names of educational institutions in Latvia 211 VELGA LAUGALE University of Liepaja, Latvia LATVIAN EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS SYMBOLIC NAME In Latvian linguistics, the symbolic name of an institution is considered to be a conditional name, usually written in quotation marks, italics or other graphically distinguishable way (Īpašvārdu rakstība 1998: 14). Symbolic names may consist of proper nouns, common words, combinations of proper and common words, specially created names. Over the past 15 years, their graphic design has been greatly influenced by rapid computerization and English language. The entries in the Republic of Latvia’s Commercial Register show that symbolic names are widely used in the formation of company names. In the list of educational establishments, a special group also consists of mixed names with a symbolic component, i.e. symbolic names. It is a word (or words) that indicate the individual distinctive features of the object named as a nomenclatural unit, without which the mentioned nomenclatural unit can be used only in a general sense, for example, pamatskola (primary school), vidusskola (secondary school), augstskola (high school). Plg. : Preschool educational institution “Saulīte”, Vocational school “Dzīvesprieks”, Hockey school “Rīga”. : Preschool educational institution “Saulīte”, Vocational school “Dzīvesprieks”, Hockey school “Rīga”. The capitalization guidelines recommend a minimal structure for such names, for example Sākumskola “Taurenītis” (Primary School “Taurenītis” [“Friend”]), where “the symbolic name is usually preceded by a nomenclatural word that identifies the type of enterprise in question” (Skujiņa 1999: 22). Only a few names were found in the investigated material, composed according to the reverse scheme: symbolic name + nomenclatural words, for example, Anšpēteru veselīgas ēdināšanas un servisa arodizglītības skola (Anšpēteru School of Healthy Food and Service Crafts). The collected data show that the names of educational institutions very rarely correspond to the above-mentioned two-component structure. 212 LANGUAGE CULTURE | Volume 83. These names are usually accompanied by other descriptive elements, often by the combination of two nomenclatural words, for example, “Aija Fashion” Modeļu skola un Stila studija (Aija Fashion Model School and Style Studio) (Laugale 2010: 147–163). However, in everyday speech and writing, the symbolic name is used as an independent name (e.g., “Turība”, “Saulīte”) without the nomenclatural word (Laugale 2009: 46–49). If the name of the educational institution is symbolic, the name of the place of residence as a nomenclatural word is mentioned quite rarely. There are such schools in Jūrmala (the name of the city is not mentioned in these cases), as well as in other places in Latvia: Sākumskola “Ābelīte” (Primary School “Ābelīte” [“Oat”]), Sākumskola “Zvaniņš” (Primary School “Zvaniņš” [“Bell”]). The tendency not to mention the place name in the name of the educational institution sometimes hinders the information about the location of the school, for example: Sākumskola “UNIVERSUM” (Primary school “uNIVERSuM”) in Valmiera, Eksperimentālā Kristīgā vidusskola “Staburadze” (Experimental Christian middle school “Staburadze”) in Jūrmala, Arodskola “Dzīvesprieks” (Crafts school “Dzīvesprieks”) in Tukums district, Vane parish, etc. When creating names for schools, the general norms of the Latvian language are important. any name is at the same time a word, performing all the functions inherent in a word. Most often, it is a variable word that has all the grammatical features typical of Latvian. The symbolic name of the invariant form generally complies with the laws of language, but as the name of the institution often does not mean anything, perhaps only draws attention to its unusualness. The name of the unchanged form is more difficult to use: Ropažių muzikos ir meno mokykla „RODENPOIS“ (Ropažių music and art school „RODENPOIS“), Mokėjimo gamybinis kombinatas „Zerko“ (Mokėjimo gamybinis kombinatas „Zerko“). In order to understand the meaning of such names, additional information is always needed, for example: “Rodenpois” – this is the old name of the town of Roopaži (Livonian means “iron guy”); The meaning of the name “Zerko” is not known even by the administration of the institution (from an interview with the director Arvydas Lacius on November 12, 2008). V. LaugaLe. Symbolic names of educational institutions in Latvia 213 It is convenient when the symbolic name (although sometimes artificially created) can be changed, e.g. : Modes skola “ANISOLS” (Fashion school “ANISOLS”), Privātā Profesionālā vidusskola “SIGMA” (Private vocational high school “SIGMA”). Some of the symbolic names of educational establishments consist of alphabetical abbreviations: Profesionālās pamatizglītības iestāde “ZET” (Vocational primary educational establishment “ZET”). They also require additional information and some knowledge to understand. For example, the abbreviation of the symbolic name Mācību centrs “RIMAN” (The Training Centre “RIMAN”) is made up of the first syllables of the name of the company “Rīgas manufaktūra”, which rents the premises. This could symbolize the place where the school is located. The provisions of the State Language Act are not violated by a symbolic name in another language (e.g. Russian) if it is written in Latin alphabet. The symbolic name in Russian reinforces the information by duplicating it, for example, : Privātā krievu nacionālā vidusskola “Podsolnuh” (Private Russian national high school “Podsolnuh”)1. In this case, the added explanatory text in Latvian clarifies the information about the school even for those who do not speak Russian. Interesting fact that the school was established as a private primary school "Sunflower" 2. INTERPRETATION OF SYMBOLIC NAME “Although the purpose of a symbolic name is not to directly describe the nature and main functions of the institution, an effort must nevertheless be made to choose or create a name that directly or indirectly, by concept, symbol or otherwise, helps to describe the essence of the institution” (Skujiņa 1999: 22). Symbolic names are often used to name specific institutions that provide education in a specific field (e.g., art, sport, dance). Such names are usually related to the above-mentioned areas, e.g. : International School of Hairdressing “Beauty”, Ice Hockey School “Iceberg”, School of Sewing and Handcrafts “Burda Riga”. 1 Podsolnuch – sunflower. 2 Sunflower – sunflower. 214 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 83 A pronoun that does not form part of the name as an element of direct meaning may be used as a symbolic name, in which case it performs a distinctive function. The name may consist of the name of the city: Bērnu un jauniešu basketbola skola „RĪGA” (Children and Youth Basketball School „RĪGA”), Vidzeme Youth Football Centre „Staicele” (Vidzeme Youth Sports Centre „Staicele”3), Sporta centrs „Daugavpils ledus” (Sports Centre “Daugavpils Ice”); the name of the city microdistrict – Bērnu un jaunatnes sporta skola “Jugla” (Children’s and Youth Sports School “Jugla”) in Riga; Sometimes a separate part of the city is referred to – Sporta skola „Arkādija” (Sports school „Arkādija”) in Riga, Profesionālās ievirzes sporta skola „Pārdaugava” (Professional sport school “Pardaugava”) in Riga; concrete building – Children and Youth Sports Centre “Daugavas sporta nams” (Children and Youth Sports Centre “Dauguvos sporto rūmai”) in Riga. Old place names are sometimes used as symbolic names, for example, the name of the stream Rīdene in the names of two schools – Bērnu un jaunatnes sporta skola “Rīdene” (Children and Youth Sports School “Rydzene”) in Riga and Pamatskola “Rīde” (Primary School “Rydzee”) also in Riga; Privātā vidusskola “Mītava” (Private Secondary School “Mintauja”) in Jelgava – this name is based on the former name of Jelgava. Consumers may be misled when a place name is included in the symbolic name and the area in which the school is located is not related to that place name. Misunderstandings may arise about the word Dauguva (in the Latvian SSR there was a sports society “Dauguva”, which operated in all districts), e.g. LIEPĀJAS SPORTA SKOLA “DAUGAVA” (Liepaja sports school “Dauguva”)4. Since the name of this river is already in the name of one of the schools, the name of the newer school, Hokeja skola „Rīgas Daugava“ (Ice hockey school „Rīgas Daugava“), also indicates the location in order to avoid misunderstandings. In the first case, the name was chosen unconsciously – a specific word must provide information about a specific object, i.e. it must comply with the lexical meaning and the correspondence with reality. This is essential, because one of the functions of a symbolic name is to simplify communication. This is especially important for sports schools, whose names are often also the names of sports teams. For this reason, it seems unjustified to use the same place name in the names of several different schools, e.g. : Children and youth 3 Staicelė – a town in north-western Vidzeme. 4 The city of Liepaja is located in the southwest of Latvia and has no connection with the Daugava river. V. LaugaLe. Symbolic names of educational institutions in Latvia 215 basketbola skola „RĪGA” (Children’s and Youth Basketball School „RYGA”) and Hokeja skola „Rīga” (Ice Hockey School „Rīga”); Iecavas novada sporta skola „Dartija” (Iecavas Region Sports School „Dartija”) and Sākumskola „Dartija” (Primary School „Dartija”) in Bauskas district5. The symbolic name may indicate the nationality of the students (if it is not mentioned in the literal description). Such a name is formed on the basis of taking specific concepts of some nation, which are important and significant for the people of this nationality. This indicates that the educational institution has students of one or another nationality, e.g. : Riga Gymnasium "IVRIT" (Riga Gymnasium "IVRIT"). Of course, the person composing such a name must be firmly convinced that the word is known to the speakers of the language. The symbolic name is characterized by language economy, which is essentially the ability to create imagery, spatial, associative names that help attract future customers (Емельянова 2007: 7). It can be a word with a positive meaning, related to the quality of education, e.g. : Hairdressing School "Vernisaža" (Hairdressing School "Vernisaža"). In recent years there has been a tendency, especially in the names of private educational institutions, to use various evaluative and corrective words that make the name original or special compared to others. However, the meaning of such symbolic names is not always understood without additional information: Frizieru skola-studija „Galateja” (Hairdresser’s school-studio „Galateja”), Frizieru skola „Studija–I” (Hairdresser’s school „Studija–I”), Biznesa skola „Nimfa 2000” (Business school „Nimfa 2000”), Privātā vidusskola „Gaismas tilts 97” (Private high school “Gaismas tilts 97”), Mākslas skola „Iberians” (Art school “Iberians”), Daugavpils mākslas vidusskola „Saules skola” (Daugavpils high school of art “Sun School”). International words are often used in symbolic names. This is considered positive, especially if the word has already been assimilated in Latvian and has been included in Latvian explanatory dictionaries (e.g., norma, harmonija). Their meaning is understood by the language user, because the context presented – the nomenclatural unit indicates that it is the name of the school. Such symbolic names of schools reveal the intentions of the founders, although the words can also be polysemic, for example: harmony – 4 meanings (SV 1999: 266), alpha – 4 meanings (SV 1999: 42). Plg. : Elementary School "Harmony" (Main 5 Dartija – settlement in Bauskas district Iecava region. 216 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 83 school “Harmony”), gr. harmonija – “harmony, proportionality of parts of objects or phenomena” (SV 1999: 266); Privātā sākumskola “Alpha” (Private elementary school “Alpha”) in Jelgava (alpha and omega phraseology of the Bible, i.e. the beginning and the end, the most important, the basis of everything; LFV I 1997: 76) is a Christian school, so the abbreviation is taken from the Bible (from a conversation with the director Ingvilda Ivanova on November 12, 2008). However, the context (in this case, the connection with the educational institution) does not always help to avoid ambiguity, i.e. to emphasize just one meaning. For example, in the International Dictionary of Words, the word norm has 3 meanings (SV 1999: 522). The school director Irina Lode (22 November 2008) explained that the symbolic name Privātā vidusskola “NORMA” (Private Secondary School “NORMA”) was chosen according to the meaning of the international word (Latin norma – “measure, example”) “rule, principle, standard” (SV 1999: 522) in order to emphasise that the school does not have a particular direction like some other private schools, but that the teaching in this school meets the general standard. Confusion may arise in cases where the name is not understood in another language and not all foreign words are included in the relevant dictionaries. These are the names of several schools in Latvia, for example, Privātskola “Latreia” (Private School “Latreia”). It is the first private school in the restored independent Latvia, its name consists of the Greek word meaning "inspiration" (from an interview with the director Valdis Krūmiņš on November 22, 2008). The Greek meaning of this word is “minister; ministry in the temple of God” (LGCVV 1999: 68). The name of the school Privātā pamatskola “Maksima” (Private primary school “Maksima”) uses the Latin word [lat. maxima, (regula, sententia) – “foundation, law, supreme principle”], because this word is associated with principles of a moral, ethical nature; the rules of conduct that a person follows – this is the opinion of the school management (school principal Inara Kuharjonoka, November 12, 2008). In individual cases, the meaning of a name can be predicted if there is some special initial knowledge (e.g. from Roman mythology). This is the name of the school, RSEBAAs Profesionālā Vidusskola ‘VICTORIA’ (RSEbAAas Vocational Secondary School ‘VICTORIA’), which includes the name of the goddess of victory Victoria in Latin (SV 1999: 830). In the interpretation of the school management, this means "first profession, first victory" (from an interview with the principal Andžela Dubinska on November 26, 2008). V. LaugaLe. Symbolic names of educational establishments in Latvia 217 The section of the Law on the State Language on the formation of names stipulates that the name of an object must be written in Latin or Latvian letters. There are names that meet this basic condition, but the meaning of the symbol may still remain unclear if it is not explained, for example Rīgas sākumskola “Papatya” (Riga Primary School “Papatya”). The symbol functions can best be performed by Latvian words whose meaning, i.e. semantics and symbolic function, is well understood without comments and additional information, e.g. : Privātā pamatskola "Avots" (Private primary school "Avots" ["Source"]), Privātā pamatskola "Saulgrieži" (Private primary school "Saulgrieži" ["Sunrise"]), Privātā sākumskola "Namiņš" (Private primary school "Namiņš" ["Naam me lis"]), Privātā vidusskola "Taka" (Private secondary school "Taka" ["Taum kas"]), Privātsākumskola "Varavīksne" (Private primary school "Varavīksne" [The rainbow]). The use of the word in the literal sense in a symbolic name is evaluated positively, such a symbol can better and more accurately perform the functions of the name. For example, the word spars (LLVV VII2 1991: 85) – “ambition, determination, perseverance” (in activity, behaviour), its intense expression, energy is suitable for the name of the sports institution: Ventspils pilsētas domes Izglītības pārvaldes Sporta skola “Spars” (Ventspils City Council Education Board Sports School “Spars”). As a kind of symbols rare Latvian words are sometimes used: Privātā pamatskola „Patnis” (Private primary school “Patnis”), patnis meaning – individual (LLVV VI1 1986: 519); Privātā vidusskola “Laisma” (Private Secondary School “Laisma”) added the rare word laisma – in dialect – to its name. fun activity (LLVV IV 1980: 578). The choice of symbolic names is unlimited. Sometimes the founders of a school find it important to symbolically include new teaching methods in the name, for example, Privātsākumskola “Innova” (Private Primary School “Innova”). In a conversation with the director Inta baltiņa (November 22, 2008) it became clear that the name is based on the Latin word innovatio “innovation, change” (SV 1999: 308), which is associated with new educational teaching methods. Similar associations arise from another name – Privātvidusskola “Brīvā attīstība” (Private Secondary School “Free Development”), the meaning of which is related to the development of individual abilities of pupils (free development is an alternative education concept). 218 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 83 It is worth considering the symbolic name of the logopedic school Rīgas sā kumskola „Valodiņa” (Riga Primary School „Valodiņa”). In 2003, the school was renamed “Valodiņa” in order to avoid words related to speech defects in the school name. It is the only special school in Latvia whose name does not contain the word “special”, which is considered a euphemism in terms of its lexical meaning and use. Sometimes the symbolic name may consist of a personal name, but the registration documents of the institutions show that these are neither the names of the founders, nor of the owners, nor of the school principals, and in order to clarify the motivation additional data is needed, e.g. : Private Primary School “Elita” (Privati pradinė mokykla “Elita”), Vocational Primary Education Institution “Studija Maija” (Profesinė pagrindinės ugdymo įstaiga “Studija Maija”). The namemakers are not lacking in creative imagination, one private school is even named after the famous explorer Christopher Columbus: Privātā sākumskola “Kolumbs” (Private primary school “Columbus”) in Riga. Animal names are used in the names of educational institutions according to their characteristics, for example, the name of a predator chosen for a sports school is associated with the spirit of a fighter. Sometimes an animal is chosen as a team symbol: the flag of the adult ice hockey team “Rīga 2000” has a lion, while the symbol of its children’s sports school is another, smaller animal – a lynx: Profesionālās ievirzes sporta izglītības iestāde “Lūši” (Professional Sports Educational Institution “Lūši”). The National School “99 White Horses” stands out for its deliberate choice of symbols, both in terms of meaning and in attracting attention. The director of this school, Ojars Rude, explains that the name, which was recommended by a folk tradition expert, has many meanings6. For sports schools and their teams, sponsorship is important, so it happens that the name of the school consists of the name of the company sponsor, 6 The number 9 is the rhythm of completion, this is well known to mathematicians. 99 is not just a number, it means a lot. In ancient times there was a nine-day calendar. Children are born after nine months. In turn, white means "divine", in the folk beliefs of various nations it is spoken of the north, where you need to look for something bright, beautiful. The horse is a mediator between this world and the other. the white horse was once the determining fate. When a decision had to be made, the horse was ordered to take the first step. There is a tradition in the region (Cėsių district, Druskininkai municipality; my clarification – V. L.): if a person meets a white horse, it will be a happy day, and when I count 99 white horses, there will be a wedding – it means a new beginning. “We learned from the people and wanted to teach the people something, so the name of the national school came about. We are trying to maintain this mutual connection to this day” (Patiesā Dzīve, 2008, No. 21, 22). V. LaugaLe. Symbolic names of educational institutions in Latvia 219 e.g. : Specialized sports school "Latvijas Bērzs" (Specializuota sporto mokykė la "Latvijas bērzs" ["Latvijos beržas"]). A special group are the symbolic names of pre-school institutions – 90% of them have a symbolic name in the diminutive form of a noun. It can be seen that the symbolic names of many kindergartens consist of the same words. For example, the word Saulīte (Sunny) forms 19 names of preschools, Pasaciņa (Pasaciņa) – 13 names, Bitīte (Bitīte) and Sprīdītis (Sprīdītis) – each 11 names of kindergartens. In the deminutive forms of nouns, the diminutive suffixes -iņ-, -īt-, ēēn-, -ukusually express a positive evaluation – they give the words a shade of tenderness, sincerity, favor. The symbolic word in the name of the educational institution makes it more personal, but the meaning of the word, although in the name of the institution, affects both children and employees (these studies are related to sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and ethnolinguistics and should be continued). The symbol in the name of the institution is a sign of a particular culture, supplementing its semantics with such a system of thought and such concepts that reflect that culture. It is necessary to take into account the fact that “when using words/names, personal associations may arise and an individual emotional attitude towards the marked object may be formed, but its cultural national essence is expressed by the universally used connotation” (Аюпова 2004: 44). Although the symbolic names of educational institutions (especially preschool) are very diverse, this article provides only a brief overview of the names of this group and describes the main types of names. SECONDARY PRODUCTS Registers of educational institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia: http://doc.izm.gov.lv/liis/org/pases.nsf/WebIzgl3?OpenView LITERATURE Īpašvārdu rakstība 1998: Īpašvārdu rakstība, Riga: LR Valsts valodas centrs. Laugale V. 2009: Educational Institution Names in Latvian Language: Linguistic Aspects. Summary of the PhD Thesis in the Subdivision of Latvian Synchronous Linguistics, Liepāja: LiePA.